The Tomorrow People: The Continuation
by CPO Backstreet
Summary: Picking up from the end of the US series. As Stephen and Cara attempt to work out the Tomorrow People's role in the world, Jedikiah is making his own plans for the future of the new humans.
1. Chapter 1

**It's probably not a good way to start by admitting that I wasn't overly keen on Tomorrow People US, as I'm calling it this week: It had potential but the people making it seemed to miss the point. So while I will be keeping in spirit with the show, I'll also be trying to bring a bit of the ethos of the original series to it. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

"Everyone, down on the floor!"

Most of the people in the bank had been expecting a quiet time, just carrying out simple transactions at the counter or at the machines. They hadn't expected the men with guns or the armed police officers who now held the building under siege. Nor had they expected to end up lying face down on the floor as the men with guns stormed around angrily, their robbery having gone up in smoke.

"What are we going to do?"one of the robbers asked.

The leader of the gang glared at him. "Just sit tight. We've got all these hostages, right? No-one can get in here."

It was an unfortunate pronouncement, since it was at that moment that Stephen teleported in behind him. He cleared his throat loudly, then, when the two men turned round, he punched the leader hard in the face and pushed him into the second man, sending them both clattering. He noticed one of the hostages beginning to look up, curious. "Keep down,"he snapped. The fewer people who could identify him the better.

One of the other robbers had aimed his gun at Stephen. Stephen quickly fired off a burst of telekinesis that sent him flying. He looked over at Cara, who had teleported in at the same time as him. One robber was already a groaning heap on the floor and she was currently delivering a succession of punches and kicks to another hapless victim. Stephen grabbed some rope and threw it to her. "Use this."

When the police burst into the bank a few minutes later, the robbers were all tied up together in the middle of the room…and Stephen and Cara were nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Stephen and Cara were walking down a corridor in what had once been Ultra Headquarters and was now known as the Refuge. Trailing in their wake were fellow Tomorrow People Russell, Irene, Mike and Lucy. "Did you manage it?"Cara asked.

"All the security cameras in the bank were out of action,"Irene confirmed. "No-one saw you teleport in or out."

"What about you guys?"Russell asked. "Did you manage to kick some serious butt?"

"Check out the arrest reports,"Stephen replied.

"Oh man, I wish I'd been there."

"I'm kind of glad you weren't,"Cara bit back snidely.

"So, is this our mission now then?"Mike asked. "Dealing with a few random lowlifes?"

"Can you think of anything better?"Stephen retorted.

"Good point,"Lucy observed. "We haven't exactly got Ultra on our back anymore."

"I'm all for being virtuous,"Irene agreed.

"Then keep checking the news for incidents like that,"Stephen told her.

It sounded like a dismissal and the foursome took it as one, halting and allowing Stephen and Cara to walk on alone. "Right!"Irene called after them. "I'll do that!"

* * *

"Mike's kind of got a point,"Cara observed as she and Stephen entered the office that they had seemingly adopted as their own since taking over the building. "I know you were always keen on the whole superhero gig but is this really what you want us doing?"

Stephen sat down on the desk facing her and took her hands. "Didn't it feel kind of good to be saving someone other than ourselves?"

Cara's expression softened into a reluctant smile. "Yeah, okay, it kinda did."

"I just think, if we're meant to be the future of humanity or whatever, we need to show that that future's something good. And maybe, if we're out there helping people, we can convince them that we're not a danger that needs to be wiped out."

Cara stared hard at him. "You want to wear a cape, don't you?"

Stephen blinked. "What? No."

"A cape and a mask. It's probably been your lifelong ambition."

"If you're going to suggest tights next, then…"

"I can provide you with images demonstrating how such an outfit would look on you if you wish,"a male voice intoned from the other side of the room.

Stephen grimaced slightly at the interruption before turning to the screen taking up the opposite wall. "Hey, Tim. How are you liking your new home?"

"I am learning to appreciate the view."

"Was there anything you wanted?"Cara asked cattily.

"I just wanted to be sure you were aware we have a visitor."

Stephen looked through the office window and saw someone in the communal area that formed the next room: Astrid. She was currently engrossed in conversation with Piper and Troy but kept casting occasional looks over at him. Cara came to stand at Stephen's side. "You want me to come with you?"

Stephen gave her a grateful look. "No, I think I need to handle this myself." He headed out of the office towards his old friend. Her companions saw him coming and made themselves scarce. "Hi, Astrid."

Astrid feigned a smile of surprise. "Stephen! How are you doing?"

"Good, thanks. What brings you here?"

"Oh, you know, just thought I'd pop in, check how everyone is." Stephen said nothing, waiting for her to admit the truth. Astrid sighed. "I just wanted to know if you've heard anything about John."

Stephen had known it was coming, had invited it. But it didn't make it any easier to answer. "We haven't heard anything from either him or Jedikiah since you saw them together."

* * *

John was running. Running through the corridors of a cold, sterile building, all metal and glass. He rounded the corner and there he was, like he knew he would be. Jedikiah.

"I'm sorry it has to end this way, John,"Jedikiah observed, his tone sounding genuinely regretful. Then he raised a gun and fired.

John woke up.

Jedikiah, sat beside his bed, leaned over and gently took his hand. "That nightmare again?"

John nodded. "I don't know why I'm so scared of you in it."

Jedikiah gave a comforting smile. "Well, I can be very scary at times."

"I just can't help feeling that I've forgotten something. People."

"No-one important,"Jedikiah said, his tone suddenly having a slightly sharp edge to it. "I've told you that. And you can trust me, remember?"

John nodded. "Of course."

"Good. Because we have a lot to do, you and I."


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, I've picked up a favourite, a few follows and my first review so thank you to those people for their support and hope you stick with it.**

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

John looked around rapidly. He was surrounded by five opponents, all dressed in black and carrying light rifles. He teleported quickly, ending up behind one of them, and delivered a bunch to his spine that caused the man to double up in pain, out of the fight for now. The nearest man swung his weapon at him like a club. John blocked the blow and punched the man in the solar plexus. Two of his opponents ran at him from either side and John teleported, causing them to collide and go down. He turned on his last opponent. The man took up a defensive posture, inviting John to come at him. Instead, John teleported. The man looked round, weapon levelled. John reappeared right in front of him and knocked him down.

Jedikiah, who had been observing the training session, applauded. "Very good, John." He glanced at the downed troopers. "Is anyone in need of medical attention?" One of the men raised a hand. Jedikiah turned to another trooper. "Teleport him to the medical bay."

A disappointingly high number of the Ultra personnel, both human and meta-human, had been ready to accept the Tomorrow People's new regime and work with them. A few, though, had got a little too attached to the idea of hunting and killing break-outs. It was those who Jedikiah had sought out and brought into his new organisation…giving them a few mental modifications to ensure their loyalty, of course.

John was drying himself off with a towel. "What did you think?"

"Good conversions, good reading of your opponents' intent. And you certainly pack a punch. I think we're ready for you to move on to the next stage of our operation."

"New recruits?"

"If we're going to build an army, we've got to start somewhere."

* * *

Astrid smiled politely to a couple of the Tomorrow People as they passed her in the corridor of the Refuge. She had a feeling that a few of them wondered why she was there, but the fact that she'd helped save the world meant no-one said it. She stopped by one of the rooms. It seemed like a normal one person bedroom, with a camp bed set up and a few personal belongings scattered around. But something drew her to it. She recognised the girl sitting in there. "Charlotte?"

The girl got up abruptly and turned round, looking as though she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't be doing. "Astrid, hi!"

Astrid stepped into the room, curious. "Is this your room?"

Charlotte lowered her gaze slightly. "No, it…it's John's. I figured he'd need somewhere, you know, when he comes back. I brought his things from the Lair when we left."

Astrid looked around. There was a photo of John set up on the shelf and a few of his clothes hanging up neatly. "I'm sure he'll like it."

"He is coming back, isn't he?" Charlotte's tone was worried.

Astrid turned and smiled at her. "Of course. He wouldn't leave you, would he?"

Charlotte gave a shy smile. "I don't think he'd leave you either."

"Thanks."

Charlotte's smile disappeared. "So where is he?"

Astrid sighed and sat down on the bed. "I don't know." Charlotte sat down next to her and cuddled up to her. Astrid put her arm round the girl and they sat there in silence.

* * *

Stephen and Cara were in the office, staring at Tim's display. It showed a map of the city with various spots highlighted. "These are all where paranormal activity's been detected?"Stephen asked.

"That is correct,"Tim replied.

"There's a lot of them,"Cara remarked redundantly.

"Yes."

Stephen sighed. "We really need to get someone to monitor these things permanently. By the time we find out about these people, they're already gone. Tim, how are you going with checking CCTV records?"

"I am retrieving files all the time. Russell and Irene are currently searching through them."

"Hey, bro!"interrupted Luca as he entered the office.

Stephen glanced round. "Hey. You want to hang out with the others for a bit? We're kind of in the middle of something."

"Nah, Mum just wanted me to check if you'd be back for tea."

Stephen sagged, not helped by the fact that Cara had started smirking. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He drew Luca off into a corner. "You can't say things like that when I'm in the middle of a briefing!"

"Hey, just passing on the message, Chosen One. Blame Mum if you're brave enough."

Cara was only just managing to stop herself from laughing. "Smooth, Jameson. Really smooth."

Before Stephen could reply, he and Cara heard Irene's voice in their heads. "Can you two come down here? I need to show you something."

* * *

Irene and Russell were in one of the briefing rooms when Stephen, Cara and Luca entered. Irene gestured to a screen that was showing grainy CCTV footage. "I've been following up on some of the paranormal activity that Tim detected. There's a group of teens turning up all the time. Teleporting into places, doing robberies…and they're not waiting until after hours either. They're hurting people."

"It definitely sounds like the sort of thing we should be looking at,"Stephen agreed.

"You'll think that even more when you see who's leading them." Irene waited until a blonde girl on the footage was facing the camera and then paused it.

"Natalie,"Stephen said quietly.

"That's the girl that threw me againt a wall!"Luca realised.

Russell sighed. "There's a face I hoped I'd never see again."

"I've been quite looking forward to it,"Cara remarked.

Russell looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

"Someone tries to shoot you, it's hard not to want to return the favour."

Stephen was quiet for a moment. "Can you give all the information you've got to Tim? See if he can track Natalie's group down or at least keep an eye out for them when they do pop up?"

"Sure,"Irene agreed. "It looks like the rest of the gang are all the people that left the Lair with her, so I can rig up a basic recognition programme easily."

Russell winced. "We're going to have to go after her, aren't we?"

Stephen shrugged. "Well, if we don't, no-one else can handle her."

* * *

At that moment, John was also staring at an image of Natalie: A still image from the footage was in the file Jedikiah had handed him. He looked at it without recognition before turning to his mentor. "Who is she?"

"One of your kind. A rogue element. The very sort of person that Ultra was set up to deal with, before the Tomorrow People got in the way."

"What do you want done with her?"

"Bring her back here. She might be convinced to put her skills to use. Or we might just kill her. I'd be fine with that." Jedikiah noticed John's surprised expression. "She was responsible for the death of someone close to me. My brother."

John's expression softened. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I've come to terms with it. We'll keep an eye out for Miss Natalie. But before that, there's plenty of other things requiring our attention. It's time for a recruitment drive."


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, I picked up a few more follows, favourites and reviews so thank you to those people!**

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

There were very few weaknesses that Cara was willing to admit to, but one thing she'd freely tell people was that she knew absolutely nothing about ballet dancing. Yet there she was, in the middle of the audience. Not so long ago, she'd have teleported past the doorman and found an empty seat. But having access to Ultra's funds had caused Stephen to go respectable, so, against her instincts, she'd agreed to buy a ticket like everyone else.

She quickly picked out Sophie among the dancers. Not a lead role. That would be too much to hope for. But a role all the same, one that required skill and dedication. And one that she was doing well enough at to make Cara smile with pride.

She didn't know much about dancing but she knew what she liked.

* * *

"You looked good out there,"she remarked as she leaned against the door of Sophie's dressing room.

Sophie looked at her and smiled. "Cara! I didn't know you were here!" Her expression grew suddenly worried. "Is it safe for you to be here?"

"It is now. Ultra's gone, Sophie. Or possibly being run by us, we haven't quite made up our minds about that one yet. The point is, no-one's hunting you anymore."

Sophie let out a sigh of relief. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that."

Cara gave an ironic smile. "No, I kind of do."

Sophie looked contrite. "Yeah, sorry. I forgot."

Cara sat down at the dressing table next to her. "Which kind of leaves you with another choice to make."

Sophie was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…now that these powers don't make you a target, do you want them?" Cara took her sister's wrist and pulled back her sleeve to reveal the D chip bracelet that Cara had given her. "I could remove this here and now, make you one of us again. You can still have a life, still have a career. And we can help you control your powers. It might actually be quite cool."

Sophie swallowed hard. "You're sure this would be all right?"

"Trust me. Big sisters know these things."

* * *

Jedikiah was projecting an air of unaffected nonchalance. It contrasted neatly with the glowering expression of Senator Kelsey, who was staring out at him from his computer screen. "You promised me results, Doctor Price,"Kelsey snapped. "You promised me that we'd be heroes. And you have given me nothing!"

Jedikiah raised an eyebrow. "Did you not get all those reports I sent you?"

"Yes, of course I have…"

"Then you'll know I've recruited and trained a number of paranormals."

"Yes, your so-called Homo Superior. So you say. But what I want to know is when your army will be ready for deployment."

Jedikiah gave a deliberate pause. "Soon."

The comment was designed to enrage Kelsey and it succeeded. "What do you mean 'soon'?"

"Senator, I've promised you an army and I will deliver. But an army is not something I can produce overnight. At the moment, I have but a handful of troops at my disposal. They could be useful for small operations but anything large scale… If you want to risk wiping them all out when I don't have replacements available, be my guest."

"We'll hold off for now,"Kelsey conceded. "But we don't have unlimited time."

"Oh, don't worry. New ones are coming in all the time."

* * *

John glanced for a moment at the printed photograph he'd been given before approaching the young man sleeping in the alleyway. "Randall?"

The youth looked up wildly, jumping to his feet and backing against a wall. "Who are you?"

John held up his hands placatingly. "It's okay. I'm like you."

Randall looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

John took a step towards him and Randall teleported, appearing behind him. He turned to leave but John stopped him with a telepathic message. "Randall, wait."

Randall turned round, intrigued. "That was in my head, wasn't it? I've heard voices in my head before, people's thoughts. Just things I've picked up at random. But that…that was you. You were able to speak to my mind."

John gave him a sympathetic smile. "It's something we can all do. You too."

"How?"

"Well, we can show you."

"We?"

"There's some people that know about us. They helped me when I broke out, trained me, taught me to use my powers to help others. They can do the same for you." He held out his hand. "You interested?"

Randall shrugged. "What have I got to lose?" He took John's hand…

* * *

…and they teleported to Jedikiah's training centre. Randall looked suddenly uncertain as he saw the black-uniformed troops. "Who are these people?"

"It's okay,"John told him. "They just want to give you a few tests. Go with them."

Randall still didn't seem entirely certain, but nodded and allowed himself to be led away.

"Very good, John,"Jedikiah remarked. "We managed to avoid any unpleasant kicking and screaming."

"I think he'll respond well to therapy,"John agreed.

"Well, it's nice to know some people can be sensible. We've had a breakthrough…but I'm not expecting these ones to come quite so quietly."

* * *

Stephen, Russell and Astrid had reconvened back to the briefing room for another one of Irene's show and tell demonstrations. The screen showed a map of the city. "Tim and I have been doing a bit of research work,"she explained. "We've been tracking all the incidents of paranormal activity and trying to find out what they are." She pressed a button and a series of lights appeared, scattered across the map. "Now, these are all the robberies we've identified as being carried out by Natalie's group. They get in, they do the damage, they teleport out."

Astrid looked hard at the screen, struggling to see a pattern. "They look pretty random,"she admitted at last.

"They are,"Irene agreed. "But…" She pressed another button and another series of lights appeared… except these were all clustered together in one building. "Every time they teleport away from one of their raids we pick up a spike in paranormal activity from here."

Stephen stared hard, understanding the implication. "Natalie's base?"

Irene nodded. "That'd be my guess."

"So what do we do now?"Russell asked.

"We go and get them,"Stephen replied.

Astrid mulled it over for a second. "I'd be okay with that."

They were interrupted by the entrance of Cara and Sophie. "Good news,"Cara commented, patting her sister on the shoulder. "I've got us another recruit."

"I'm not saying I'm moving in with you guys or anything,"Sophie stressed. "But it would help for you to teach me how to use my powers."

Astrid smiled at her. "Good to see you again."

Russell gave Cara a playful punch. "You're back just in time, home girl! We are just about to do some serious beating up of the bad guys!"

Cara grimaced. Next to her, Sophie's expression shifted to equal parts fear and weary resignation. "Is it too late to change my mind?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the review and the follow!**

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Luca was sat in the communal area of the Refuge, idly bouncing a ball against a table. There seemed to be some sort of crisis on somewhere, hence the area being deserted. Luca was staying out of it as much as possible: He appreciated being allowed in on all the family secrets but that didn't mean he was keen to get involved in Tomorrow People business.

A dark-haired girl a couple of years older than him came in and looked around, before approaching him as the only option available. "Are you one of them then?"

"No way,"Luca answered. "And I intend to stay that way as long as possible. What about you?"

"The same. Well…no. I'm one of them, but I'm not one of _them_, if you know what I mean. I'm really here for my sister."

"Same here. My brother, that is."

The girl held out a hand. "I'm Sophie, Cara's sister."

"Luca, Stephen's brother." A thought occurred to him. "Hey, does that make us, like, heirs to the throne or something?"

Sophie grimaced. "I hope not."

Luca thought for a moment, then his expression matched hers. "Yeah, me too." He gestured to the games consoles. "You want a game?"

* * *

A strike unit had gathered in the briefing room: Russell, Mike, Lucy, Troy, Piper, Astrid and others, with Stephen and Cara leading them. "Remember, this is a capture,"Stephen reminded the group. "We want this lot back here where we can deal with them."

"Guess these old Ultra facilities have their use after all,"Mike commented.

"We always thought so,"Troy agreed.

Irene was handing out small hand-held devices to the group. "These will help you."

"What are they?"Russell asked.

"Stun guns,"Stephen told him.

"Which we could probably have used before,"Irene noted, looking accusingly at Stephen.

"Yeah, I should have smuggled a dozen or so out of the Ultra armoury,"Stephen noted sarcastically. "That wouldn't have looked at all suspicious."

Cara stopped by Astrid, who was checking her stun gun. "You sure you want in on this?"

"This lot helped someone who was trying to wipe out my species,"Astrid reminded her. "Yeah, I want in."

The briefing room screen suddenly flashed up information. "Ah, that's the alert from Tim,"Irene noted. "Natalie's group just teleported home."

Stephen looked round at the team. "Then let's go."

* * *

Natalie let a gold necklace play across her fingers. "I might keep this one. The rest of them…Kyle, how much do you think your fence will give us for them?"

One of her group shrugged. "He'll try and mark us down but with a bit of telepathy I should be able to get what he knows is a fair price out of him."

At that moment, the Tomorrow People teleported in around them. Stephen crouched and fired his stun gun, downing his first target, before another opponent jumped on him.

* * *

Jedikiah entered the monitoring room. "What have you got?"

John was standing over a technician and gestured to the screen in front of him. "That group we've been tracking. We detected a paranormal surge, as if they'd all gone back to base. But a few moments later, there was another surge in the same area. As if…"

"As if another group had just teleported to the same place." Jedikiah gave a knowing smile. "I think this could be just the opening we're looking for. You know what to do. And remember…no-one can see you."

* * *

Stephen had despatched one opponent and was wrestling with another. Near him, Russell was locked in a similar grappling contest. Astrid had managed to stay clear of the hand-to-hand and downed one of the girls with her stun gun. One of the guys leapt on her, knocking her to the ground. Cara blasted him off her with her own stun gun. Another guy grabbed Cara from behind but an elbow to the stomach and kick to the shin convinced him of the foolishness of that.

Natalie, who had managed to get free of the melee, looked round. Most of her people were already out for the count and it was clear the stun guns were giving the Tomorrow People the edge. Her best option was to find a safe place to teleport and get as far away as possible. She dashed round a corner…and ran straight into John. Before she could react, he grabbed hold of her and injected the contents of a hyperdermic into her neck. She collapsed into his arms.

Kyle, who had had the same idea, also came running round the corner, and stopped when he saw what was going on. "John?"he asked in confusion. John shot him once through the chest, then teleported away, taking Natalie with him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for the review, favourites and follows!**

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Stephen and Cara walked down the corridor of the Refuge's detention area. Various Tomorrow People were locking doors on their new "guests", the D-chips in the cell making sure they wouldn't be able to teleport or interfere with the lock. Russell gestured towards the cells. "What are we going to do with them?"

"Giving them all the cure seems like a good idea at the moment,"Cara noted.

"I guess we have to give them a chance to be rehabilitated,"Stephen sighed.

"Why not just let them all out and give them free rein of the place?"Russell asked, sarcastically.

"Well, we have to prove we're better than Ultra somehow,"Stephen argued. He looked at Cara. "Do you think you could do a read on them? Work out if they're going to betray us or not?"

Cara grimaced. "As unappealing as the idea is, yes."

"Okay. We'll give them a day or so to think things over, then give them a choice." Stephen noticed another figure approaching. "Irene! You had a look at Kyle?"

Irene looked extremely uncomfortable. "Can I just have it put on the record that autopsies is really not my thing? I am not a pathologist and I don't do it for kicks."

"Noted,"Cara agreed. "What have you found?"

"Much as we expected. Someone shot him. And I'd say they knew just where to do it."

Astrid had come over during the conversation. "Well, it couldn't have been one of us, right? None of you can kill and, Guide's honour, I did not touch a gun."

"Any other suspects?"Russell wondered.

"Natalie?"Cara suggested.

Stephen considered it. "The Founder gave her that stuff from Anax, so I guess she could do it."

"But why kill one of her own people?"Astrid asked.

"Maybe he got in the way, was going to slow her down,"Cara proposed. "It'd suit her style."

Russell sighed. "Man, I really wish we knew where she was now."

* * *

Natalie was being strapped down to a table by a group of Jedikiah's troops, struggling furiously. "Get off me, you… How dare you?"

Jedikiah stepped into view, John just behind him. "Hello again."

Natalie stared at him venomously. "Jedikiah. Still jealous of your betters?"

"I'm learning of a way for all of us to work together. With me one of the ones in charge, of course."

"Yeah, that sounds like you." Natalie glared at John. "And you're back working for him, are you?"

"He's shown me the best way,"John replied.

"My brother tried to show you a better way,"Jedikiah recalled. "But instead you betrayed him to a madman. You rejected his way, now I'm going to teach you mine." He nodded to his troops. They placed a metal cowl over Natalie's head. She continued to struggle furiously for a few moments, then she was still.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to have her here?"John asked, as he and Jedikiah walked away.

"She could be useful to us. If the treatment works, she'll come round to our way of thinking. But I must admit, a part of me hopes she doesn't." Jedikiah patted John on the shoulder. "Don't worry about her for now. We've just been picking up scraps so far. It's time for the main event."

* * *

Stephen and Cara re-entered the office. "You really think Natalie's gang will want to rejoin us?"Cara asked.

"Some of Ultra did,"Stephen pointed out. "We've got to give them a chance."

Cara smiled. "You really are into this 'better human' thing, aren't you?"

"Well…it's something we should be aiming for."

"Or maybe it's just who you are." Cara paused by the door and pulled a cord, drawing the blinds between the office and the rec area. "Tim?"

Tim's voice piped up from the corner of the room. "Yes, Cara?"

"Can you close down for…say half an hour?"

"As you wish." The lights on Tim went out.

Cara walked slowly over to Stephen and then kissed him. At first it was tentative but then their passion grew. She manoeuvred him over to the desk and swept its contents onto the floor. She lay down on it, drawing him down on top of her, fiddling with his shirt and with his belt.

Then he pulled back. "Wait…we're going to do it on the desk?"

Cara leaned up slightly, resting her elbows on the desk, and raised an eyebrow. "Not adventurous enough for you?"

"No, it's just…it feels a bit…"

"We can find a hotel room if you want?"

Stephen lowered his gaze slightly. "I seem to remember we did that once before."

Cara bristled with barely concealed fury. "I just thought you might want to. Sorry if I was wrong." She swung herself off the desk and went to the door, pulling it open to leave.

Stephen slammed the door shut telekinetically. "Cara, can you wait?" She turned to face him and he went over to her. "I want you, okay? I want you badly. But we just…did it once before and you went straight back to John. I want this to be real."

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm not…"

"Have dinner with me."

Cara stared at him in confusion. "What?"

"I'm sure Mum won't mind."

Cara looked at him as if he'd just suggested they fly to the moon. "Are you inviting me home to meet your mother?"

"Yeah. That's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

"I…don't know. I've never done that sort of thing before."

They were interrupted by Irene's voice in their heads. "Cara? Stephen? Can you come down to the lab, please?"

* * *

By the time they got there, Russell, Astrid and Mike had already joined Irene. "What's this about?" Stephen asked.

Irene looked like she was about to give a lecture. "Okay. You know that we, meaning the Tomorrow People, can teleport wherever we want. And if someone's holding on to us at the time, an ordinary human, we can take them with us."

"We're with you so far,"Cara confirmed.

Irene held up a belt. "Ta-da! I give you the matter transporter."

Russell looked at it curiously. "What does it do?"

"Transports matter." Irene held it out to Astrid. "Here, try it on for size."

Astrid took the belt from her and clipped it around her waist. "So now what?" Irene pressed a control on her bench and Astrid teleported, appearing at the other side of the room. She shook her head. "Never going to get used to that."

"How did that happen?"Stephen asked.

"The belts are laced with a tiny amount of Tomorrow People DNA,"Irene explained. "A signal can activate that DNA and send the person wearing the belt to…wherever."

"So I can teleport now?"Astrid asked. "How do I send out the signal? Or choose where to go?"

"Er, well, you can't. But Tim can." Irene handed Astrid a small, pyramid-shaped device. "And this communicator will let you call Tim and get him to send you wherever you want."

"But apart from helping our token sap save shoe leather, what use is it?"Mike asked.

Irene looked slightly affronted. "We could be in a situation where we've got a lot of humans to evacuate and not enough of us to take them one at a time. And I'm working on another application of the same technology so the rest of us can use them as boosters, go anywhere in the world."

Stephen glanced at Cara. Both of them appeared suitably impressed. "Carry on."

* * *

John sat opposite Jedikiah in his office, leafing through a file containing pictures. "Cara Coburn."

"One of the greatest telepaths I've ever met,"Jedikiah confirmed. "If we want to find someone, she's the best way of doing it."

"Russell Kwan."

"Fair to middling in terms of powers but he's been with the Tomorrow People a long time. He's one of the inner circle."

"Astrid Finch."

"Normal human. She seems to be friends with all of them, you're bound to encounter her."

"Irene Quinn."

"Her powers are nothing to write home about but she's a science genius. It'd be worth bringing her onboard just for that."

"Stephen Jameson."

Jedikiah hesitated slightly. "My nephew. He seems to have become their leader. A synergist, child of two Tomorrow People, which means his power rating is basically off the scale. Watch out for him."

John closed the file. "And these are the people that lured me away from you?"

"Yes. Now remember, they don't know you've come back to my side. They think you still consider them your friends. So play on that. Infiltrate them and gain their trust. And then…we'll put them to good use."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for the review and the follow!**

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**

Marla held out a dish invitingly. "More potatoes, Cara?"

Cara looked across the table accusingly at Stephen, who wasn't helping her mood by smirking. It was, of course, the second time she'd been a guest at his house, not counting all the times she'd gone there uninvited, but the situation still struck her as truly bizarre. "No thank you, Mrs Jameson."

"It was great, Mum,"Stephen interjected.

Marla smiled and looked at Cara. "You should come again. He's on his best manners when you're here." Stephen shot her a look of annoyance which brought a smile to Cara's face. "I'll just put a plate together for Luca when he comes home, then I'll get dessert out." She headed over to the kitchen benchs.

Cara looked at Stephen and spoke to him telepathically. "I can't believe you talked me into this."

"What's the matter?"Stephen sent back. "Afraid it'll ruin your tough girl image?"

"I do not do dinners with mothers,"Cara sent firmly. "It's what…normal people do."

"Remember I can hear you,"Marla said telepathically, before turning round with a cheesecake in her hands.

Cara reddened. "Sorry, Mrs Jameson,"she said out loud.

Marla placed the dessert on the table. "That's quite all right, Cara. Would you like a slice?"

* * *

Russell stood with a clipboard in front of four teens, all aged between sixteen and eighteen. "Okay, so, we've got Carly?" One of the girls stuck her hand up. "Frank? Jean? Terry?" He was rewarded with three more raised hands. "Welcome to the Tomorrow People, everyone. Games room is that way, that's the important thing to remember. Training room is this way. We've put you in rooms on Level 6, the lift is working but most people just teleport once they know where it is."

"I can show you,"Irene offered from beside him. "And do you mind if I take a few saliva samples? It's purely for research purposes. Nothing creepy."

The four new arrivals looked at each other with the air of those who didn't know what they were getting into before nodding and following her.

"I will be in the training room for the next half hour!"Russell called after them. "Anyone who wants a workout come and see me."

"Where did you find that lot?"Astrid asked.

"One of Tim's scans picked them up. They'd grouped together, started bunking down in a warehouse. We offered them hot and cold water and they snapped us up."

Sophie and Luca came walking towards them. "Were you serious about training?"Sophie asked.

"I certainly was,"Russell agreed.

"Can I come along? Cara's a bit busy at the moment so I thought I'd give it a go."

"Are you going too?"Astrid asked Luca.

"I'm just going to watch,"he answered.

"Welcome aboard,"Russell agreed. "The more the merrier."

"Building an army?"Astrid asked.

"Hardly,"Russell replied. "Who's left for us to fight?"

* * *

Jedikiah looked with some satisfaction at the squad of black-clad soldiers standing to attention in front of him. The first of his paranormal soldiers, ready to fight for the common good. Natalie was among them, her first appearance among his group. "Squad at ease!"he bellowed and smiled as they complied. "Drill sergeant?"

The head of the group called out orders and the rest of the troops obeyed automatically, sloping arms and wheeling as directed. Finally, he stopped and saluted. "Squad stands ready, sir."

"Thank you, drill sergeant." Jedikiah stepped forward until he was standing in front of Natalie. "Why are you here?"

"To serve you and to serve humanity, sir!"she responded.

Jedikiah nodded approvingly. "Very good. Carry on."

He turned away…and Natalie drew the knife from her belt and lunged at his back with a snarl. But the blow never struck home. Instead, her arm was stopped in mid-thrust. She looked round and saw Kyle holding her arm in place telekinetically. Then the rest of the squad joined in, focusing their powers on her. Her arms and legs were pulled out in a crucifixion pose and she was lifted into the air, hovering a few inches off the ground.

Jedikiah turned round and gave a cold smile. "You know, you really should have listened to my brother instead of betraying him. This was his tactic, holding someone in place so they can't use their powers. He thought it could beat the Founder. So a nobody like you didn't stand a chance against it."

"You're the nobody,"Natalie spat. "You think you can control us but you're weak and we're strong. I proved that, right?"

"Yes, you did. I always had a feeling that your hatred of humanity was too far ingrained for the conditioning to convince you of the error of your ways. It would have been rather satisfying to see you forced to act in the service of those you betrayed." He drew his gun. "But this will be rather satisfying as well."

He fired four clean bullets into her. She convulsed in pain, giving a last gasp. The telekinetic force of the troopers kept her body suspended in mid-air for a few seconds, then she was released and crumpled to the ground.

* * *

Stephen and Cara were lying on his bed, gently kissing. "Okay, this is just weird,"she declared.

"What's weird about it?"

"We've sneaked into your room when your mother's in the house."

"I hear it's what all the cool kids do."

"I wouldn't know, I was never a cool kid." Cara grimaced. "What if she…hears us?"

"I guess we'll just have to be quiet."

"We can't even do it telepathically because she'd listen in on that too."

"If you don't want to…"

"I didn't say that. It's just the only time I've been in your room before is when I've teleported in. This is just…" She groped for the word.

"What?"Stephen asked.

"Normal,"she sighed.

Stephen smiled and kissed her. "How about we try being normal, just for one night?"

She nodded. "Okay. Try anything once." They resumed kissing and their desire for one another grew as they carefully began removing each other's clothes.

* * *

Charlotte was wandering the corridors of the Refuge. She liked to walk about early in the morning, when most people were still in bed. It reminded her of the fact that she was free. She still had nightmares about her time in the Citadel, the experiments Ultra had done on her. But her new life with the Tomorrow People was starting to seem solid and real, rather than the brief respite she'd once viewed it as. Only one thing would make it complete.

She heard movement from one of the rooms ahead. Someone else must be up. She went to the doorway to see who it was and her eyes widened in shock. "Russell! Irene! Come quickly!"

* * *

Stephen woke up to find Cara sleeping in his arms. It was a new experience and one he quite like. She stirred and looked up at him, meeting his gaze. "What's with all the strange looks?"

He ran his fingers through her hair. "I was kind of expecting to wake up and find that you'd teleported out of here."

"Not this time." She lowered her eyes slightly. "So, is this what normal's like?"

"I think so, yeah."

"I can kind of see why you think it's so good." She sighed. "I've never done normal, I've never done relationships. But I might be willing to give it a go."

Before Stephen could answer, they both heard Irene's voice in their heads. "Ah, Stephen, Cara? Can you get back here as soon as possible?"

* * *

Stephen and Cara dressed and then teleported to the Refuge, being directed towards the corridor where Charlotte had been wandering earlier. They arrived to find Russell, Irene, Charlotte and Mike grouped outside the room. "What's going on?"Cara asked. Russell gestured silently to the open doorway.

Stephen and Cara stepped forward and saw who it was standing there. He gave them a nod of acknowledgement and a grin. "Hey there."

Cara looked as stunned as she'd ever looked but did her best to hide it. "John."


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for the review, follows and favourites!**

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

John had been taken to the laboratory and sat on a bench, with Stephen, Cara, Russell and Charlotte hanging around while Irene ran some tests. He looked at each of them closely, while projecting an image of being at ease. He'd memorised their faces and details about them but he didn't remember meeting any of them before. Jedikiah had told him that they would consider him a friend, so that was the role he had to play. "This really isn't necessary, guys,"he commented lightly.

"I agree,"Irene confirmed. "All tests show that you're in perfect health."

Stephen awkwardly stepped forward to stand eyeball to eyeball with John. "So…you're back then."

John nodded. "Hear you're in charge of this bunch now."

Stephen managed a brief smile. "Just following your example."

"Can't do worse than follow in the footsteps of the original Top TP,"Russell interjected. "In fact, when I find myself in a spot, I often find myself asking 'What would John do?'"

"What happened to you, John?"Cara asked, her tone cautious. "I sensed you, breaking out. You've got your powers back, right?"

"It was Jedikiah,"John replied. "He worked out a way to transplant powers from one person to another. It doesn't hold with a normal human but when you're already genetically a Tomorrow Person like me..."

Irene nodded. "The research Jedikiah and I did showed that. It's how I got my powers back." She shrugged awkwardly. "Plenty of dead TPs around that day to act as donors."

"So where is old Jed now?"Russell asked.

"He's left town,"John told them. "Figured there was nothing left for him here."

"What about you?"Cara asked. "Where have you been?"

"I went looking for all the kids that were fostered with me." It was the story he and Jedikiah had worked out, one that had the right amount of sentimentality that people wouldn't pry too much. "Being human again made me curious. Some had worked out okay. Some hadn't. I went to the lair when I first came back to town but there was no sign of you. That's when I thought of this place."

Stephen smiled. "Took me a while but I finally led us to the Refuge."

"I made you a room,"Charlotte interrupted. "Do you want to see it?"

John smiled at her. "Yeah, I'd like that." He let her take his hand and lead him away.

Stephen looked after him before turning to Cara. "What do you think?"

Russell put his arms around their shoulders. "Are you kidding? The gang's back together! This is gonna be great."

* * *

Charlotte presented John with the room she'd prepared. "What do you think?"

John looked around. There wasn't much to look at: a few clothes in his size, some old photos. But it was obvious that it meant a lot to this girl what he thought of it. He smiled at her. "I love it."

Charlotte smiled back and hugged him. "I'm glad you're back,"she told him, before dashing away.

John sat down on the bed, going over his first opinion of the Tomorrow People. They seemed friendly but they were clearly chaotic, no sense of order. They could be a danger if they weren't properly controlled.

He heard footsteps and got up. A dark-skinned girl in her late teens appeared in the doorway. He searched for the name from the files and remembered it: Astrid. She stared at him for a moment then ran to him and hugged him. She held him for several moments before disengaging enough to kiss him lightly on the lips. "Irene told me you were back but I didn't believe it until I saw it myself."

"Well, it's true,"John confirmed.

"Where have you been? You went off with Jedikiah and then nothing. I've been so worried."

John nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I had to help Jedikiah with a few things and then I had some old friends to catch up with."

Astrid paused awkwardly before asking "So…have you met anyone?"

John looked at her closely. It was obvious he'd had some sort of relationship with her before. Part of him wanted to dismiss her as a fantasist, looking to date one of the new breed of humans because it seemed cool, but it didn't really fit his impression of her. She seemed too soft for that. He took her hands and gave her a smile that he hoped seemed warm. "No-one as interesting as you."

* * *

"You're very quiet,"Cara remarked as she and Stephen made their way back to the office.

Stephen shrugged. "Just wondering what John being back means."

"What, you're afraid he'll want to take the office?" They headed into the room. Stephen carried on walking. Cara paused just inside the doorway. "Or are you worried he'll take me back?"

Stephen turned round. "Well, he's got form."

Cara looked at him coldly. "I'm glad to know what you think of me."

Stephen instantly realised his mistake. "No, no, no, that's not what I meant! I trust you and…and I trust him, I just…This is kind of new to me, okay, and I'm worried things are going to go wrong. And I don't want them to go wrong, okay? You're too important to me." He gently rubbed her arm.

Cara nodded slowly. "It's important to me too, okay? I…love you." The words sounded awkward and unfamiliar coming from her mouth but Stephen smiled anyway.

"Can you say that again?"he asked.

Cara found herself smiling despite herself. "No,"she said firmly.

"I apologise for the interruption,"interjected Tim,"but I have information on another emerging Tomorrow Person for you."

All business again, Stephen and Cara turned to face him. "Go on,"Stephen instructed.

Tim displayed images of a boy in his mid teens. "I have been cross checking bursts of paranormal activity with security footage of those in the area at the time and this individual has been sighted in the vicinity of no fewer than fifteen separate incidents. I calculate a 94% chance he is a Tomorrow Person."

"Does he have a name?"asked Cara.

"Andrew Forbes."

* * *

John had closed the door to his room. He didn't want any interruptions. He began changing out of the clothes he had arrived in into one of the outfits provided: It provided a useful excuse for shutting himself away. A laptop was mounted on a table. John entered the proper passcodes and stepped back. Jedikiah's image appeared on the screen. "Has insertion been successful?"he asked.

John nodded. "The Tomorrow People trust me. They think I'm still their friend."

"What have you found out?"

"They've turned this building into some sort of refuge. Most of them are living here. They've got the laboratories and computer working and they have access to the armoury."

"Give me as much information as you can on the layout and use of the building. We may need to raid it. What else are they doing?"

"They're tracking new Tomorrow People."

"Now that could be very useful to us…if we can get there first. Keep monitoring and let me know."


	8. Chapter 8

**I picked up another follower so welcome aboard that person!**

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

John made his way slowly through the corridors of the Refuge, nodding politely to people, many of whom seemed to look at him like an all-conquering hero. They didn't realise that their admiration sickened him. They thought he was a hero because he had once hidden them from Jedikiah. The idea that he could have made such a mistake left him disheartened at the person he had once been. And the mistakes he had made were continuing to blight these peoples' lives, as he'd seen in the few days he'd been living with them.

He entered the rec area. Astrid was sitting there and immediately went over to him, a smile on her face. She took his hands and kissed him lightly. "I was wondering where you were hiding."

John smiled back at her. "I wasn't hiding, I was looking for you."

"You should have looked harder!"called a girl from the couch. He had learned her name was Sophie and the boy with her was Luca. She seemed to notice the irritation in his face and quickly added,"Sorry."

John turned back to Astrid, the interruption forgotten. "I've been thinking…we should go somewhere."

Astrid smiled teasingly at him. "What, you're actually going to leave this place?"

He nodded. "Just the two of us. You know, like a date."

She raised an eyebrow. "You are full of surprises."

"Just an idea."

"Well, I suppose we could get a coffee?" She looked at him enquiringly and he nodded. She linked arms with him. "All right, Mr Young, show me a good time."

As the pair left, Luca glanced at Sophie. "A date, huh? That sounds like a good idea."

Sophie looked at him, bemused. "Are you asking me out?"

Luca reddened. "No, no!"

"Why? Something wrong with me?"

"No! You're very…" – he groped around for a word – "nice,"he managed at last.

Sophie smiled. "Thanks, you're nice too." There was a slight shyness about the response that made him smile back.

From the office window, Stephen and Cara watched the interaction. "Do you see that?"Cara asked, a trace of horror in her voice.

Stephen shrugged. "My brother and your sister. Got a kind of symmetry to it."

"It's…it's…" Cara shivered. "I am not ready to deal with that."

"I can take your mind off it if you like?" Stephen leaned in and kissed her, reaching out a hand to close the office blinds.

* * *

John glanced across the coffee shop table at Astrid. He had told himself that he'd asked her out to maintain his cover: Whatever relationship had existed between them prior to his amnesia, prior to his seeing the light and rejoining Jedikiah, he needed to maintain it, to convince her and everyone else that nothing had changed. And yet…he found himself enjoying her company. She was a reminder of what he and Jedikiah were about, of the ordinary people that needed protecting.

Astrid had been jabbering since they'd sat down, talking about her life. "Heard back from the radio station that I sent my demo files to. Said it was good but not professional enough. Dad's giving me a few shifts, so I should earn some money to…"

"Why are you with us?"John asked suddenly.

Astrid stopped and looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"You're not like us, you could lead a normal life. You've got all these things going on, things that are important to you. Why are you still with the Tomorrow People?"

Astrid answered carefully. "Because you're my friends. Because there's this whole world that I'm aware of and I can't just pretend that it doesn't exist." She gave an awkward smile. "And because I like spending time with you."

She reached out a hand across the table…and he took it.

* * *

"I have found the information you requested,"Tim announced.

Stephen and Cara hastily broke apart and smoothed their clothes down. "Ah, what information was that, Tim?"Stephen asked.

"The location of Andrew Forbes."

Stephen looked quizzically at Cara. "New Tomorrow Person,"she reminded him.

Stephen nodded. "Where?"

Tim displayed a map. "Judging from security camera footage and the detection of paranormal activity, he is currently in this street here."

Stephen looked at Cara. "First contact?"

"Sounds like a plan,"she agreed.

They headed through into the rec area, which was now starting to fill up. "Where's John?"Stephen asked.

"He's still out with Astrid,"Irene answered.

"Our John,"Russell sighed admiringly. "Always a hit with the ladies."

Stephen nodded. "Well, when he gets back, tell him we've gone to find this new Tomorrow Person." He headed for the door.

Cara paused before following him, her gaze travelling across those present. "Irene, you're in charge until we get back."

The look of shock on Irene's face was only matched by that on Russell's.

* * *

Morgan glanced out the window of her flat as she watered her plants. She had been living there for a few months, ever since the lair had been abandoned. The Tomorrow People had invited her to join them at the Refuge, but with Ultra gone she didn't feel she had any need to stay with the younger telepaths anymore. She knew what was important and that was making a home for herself and her baby.

The thought stayed with her as she went to answer the knock at the door. So she couldn't help thinking that there was some strange cosmic joke going on when she opened it to reveal her baby's father. "Jed!" she greeted him in surprise.

"Helo, Morgan." Jedikiah seemed awkward and nervous. "Can I come in?" She stepped aside and he looked around. "Nice place you've got here."

"It'll do me,"she replied. "Us." She looked at him cautiously. She'd loved him once and perhaps still did but she was aware of his darker side. "Jed, where have you been? You just disappeared."

"I've had...things to do,"he explained. "To safeguard the future. Our future." He held out his hand to her. "Come with me. There's a lot I need to show you."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

Russell was sitting in a chair in the lab, looking morose. Next to him, Irene was standing looking at a monitor. "Hey, Russell, come and look at this."

With a weary sigh, Russell got up and come to stand behind her. "At what?"

"This. A body was found dumped in an alley. Jane Doe, no ID, and a lot of bullets in her. See anyone you recognise?"

Russell found himself interested despite himself. "Is that Natalie?"

Irene nodded. "Guess she had a disagreement with someone. You think we should check it out?"

Russell's brief good move dissipated again. "You tell me. You're the leader at the moment." He went back to the chair and sat down again.

Irene looked at him curiously, as though analysing a problem. "Are you unhappy about something?"she asked at last.

"They put you in charge. A few months ago, that would be me. Before…" He broke off.

"Before the last time they left you in charge, when you betrayed Stephen's father to Ultra?"Irene suggested.

Russell sighed. "Why do people have to keep bringing that up?"

Irene seemed to consider the problem for a moment, then she kissed him, full on the lips. Russell accepted it for a moment, then she straightened up and went back to her monitor.

"What was that for?"he asked.

Irene shrugged. "You looked like you needed it."

* * *

Stephen and Cara were hiding around a corner, looking down the street. "Can you see him?"Stephen asked.

"I can't see anyone,"Cara retorted. "What does he look like anyway?"

Stephen produced his phone and passed it to her; the screen displayed the image of Andrew that Tim had showed them. "Do you think we need night vision goggles?"

"There,"Cara interrupted, pointing.

Stephen saw a group of men coming down the road. With them was a boy around Luca's age: Andrew. They stopped in front of an ATM machine and one of the men gave Andrew a shove. "All right, kid. Do your stuff."

Andrew raised his hand over the machine…and it began spewing out cash. The two other men began grabbing it and stuffing it into a bag.

Stephen looked at Cara incredulously. She shrugged. "At least he's got class."

"We need to get him away from those others,"Stephen decided.

"I've got a plan,"Cara announced.

"What?"

With a yell, Cara ran out of hiding and charged at the two men with the bag. She kicked one of them away and slammed the second one into a wall. With a sigh, Stephen charged after her and kicked the ostensible leader of the group aside.

Andrew stared at them in bewilderment, until Cara grabbed him and teleported.

Stephen gave his opponent an apologetic shrug. "Sorry,"he noted before he teleported as well.

* * *

John and Astrid walked through the corridors of the Refuge, laughing, smiling and holding hands, until they reached his room. They kissed just inside the doorway, hands roaming about each other for a few moments. "I had a good time tonight,"Astrid remarked.

"Me too,"John confirmed. And he closed the door. He kissed her again, softly but intensely. They sat down on the bed and he continued to kiss her.

Astrid suddenly realised what was going to happen. A thrill of nervous anticipation ran through her body as he began removing her top. She hesitated for a moment, then unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off him. The sensation of their bare skin against each other felt more and more pleasant as their clothes were discarded and they slid beneath the sheets.

* * *

Andrew was sitting on a chair in one of the disused rooms in the Refuge, Cara and Stephen prowling around him. He looked at them cautiously. "What are you, the cops or something?"

"You got reason to be afraid of cops?"Cara asked.

"We're like you,"Stephen answered.

Andrew wasn't sure what he was saying. "Thieves?"

"Tomorrow People."

"What?"

"That thing you did with the cash machine,"Cara recalled. "Neat trick."

"Thanks."

She gestured and the chair he was sitting on rose into the air. His eyes widened in surprise. "And I'm not using wires,"she told him.

"The way we brought you here,"Stephen explained. "Teleportation. You can do that too, if you learn."

Cara lowered Andrew to the ground and he looked at them uncertainly. "Why have you brought me here?"

"Because…we're keeping an eye on people that are like us. There were people once that wanted to hurt us. They're gone now but we're still trying to make sure we all stay safe."

"From people like Dunning?"Andrew asked.

Stephen and Cara exchanged a confused glance. "Who's Dunning?"asked Cara.

"The guy I was with tonight. The leader."

"You in his gang or something?"Stephen asked.

"I don't want to be. But he found out I was good at opening things. I've got a mother and sister, he said he'd hurt them if I didn't help him."

"What's your accent?"Cara wondered suddenly. "Minnesota?"

"I'm Canadian,"Andrew replied testily. "Why?"

"Just curious."

"If we catch this Dunning,"Stephen interjected,"would that make things all right for you? You wouldn't carry on stealing?"

"I guess not,"Andrew answered. "What's this all about?"

"Well, we were hoping you'd join us."

"And if I don't, you won't help?"

"No, we'll help you either way."

"What do you need us to do?"asked Cara.

* * *

Morgan followed Jedikiah through the corridors of his headquarters towards a laboratory. "You seem to have a decent set-up here,"she remarked. "Got your own paranormal army again. Landed on your feet."

"I'm simply trying to make the world better,"he replied. "For both our species."

"What happens if this lot turn on you?"

Jedikiah smiled. "Let's say I've learnt my lesson about a lot of things. And some of the things I've learned could help us."

"What do you mean?"

Jedikiah sat down on one of the laboratory benches. "I mean our child, Morgan. It could belong to either of our species."

"Well, we've no way of knowing until they break out. Or not."

"There is now. Something I found out during the course of my work with your friend Irene. A test. A way to see whether a child is human or parahuman." His demeanour became serious, almost pleading. "Morgan, I need to know."

Morgan's heart went out to him. "What do I need to do?"

Jedikiah held up a hyperdermic. "I just need to take a sample of the amniotic fluid…and soon I will know."

* * *

Astrid glanced over at John, sleeping alongside her, and smiled. Careful not to disturb him, she slipped out from under his arm, fumbled around to retrieve her underwear, then pulled one of John's shirts on over it and quietly left the room.

She'd hoped to be to the kitchen and back without running into anyone but there was someone in there. Cara. The older girl turned round at her approach and stopped, regarding her with an unreadable expression. "You're still here then?"

Astrid nodded. "I stayed over with John."

"Yeah, I guessed that bit. And I'm trying very hard not to read your mind at the moment."

Astrid reddened slightly. "I came for a glass of water."

Cara stepped out of her way and she went to one of the taps. "I guess I should say I'm glad you two are doing well."

Astrid filled up her glass and leant against the sink, facing Cara. "Are we going to…have a girls' talk or something?"

Cara came to stand beside her. "I don't know, I've never been particularly good at that sort of thing." She saw Astrid's surprised look. "Well, who'd I have them with, Irene?"

"It's strange,"Astrid mused. "For ages, I dreamt that my first time would be with Stephen."

Cara shot her a worried look. "You're not going to ask me to compare them, are you?"

Astrid gave a slight smile. "No."

"Good." Cara sighed. "Because there is no comparison, I know that better than anyone. John and I… there was a time when we were both what the other one needed. Neither of us were much good at being normal humans. In a way, our lives began when we became Tomorrow People. We ran the lair, we looked out for our people the best we could. We spent so much time trying to keep everyone alive, we forgot to live. Then Stephen came along and questioned every rule we'd made, shook the whole thing up. And I found myself breaking those rules alongside him. John made me strong. Stephen made me human. And you and John are the same. Just a few days with you and I saw him come alive in a way I'd never seen before. You're good for him."

Astrid nodded in gratitude. "I guess I'd better get back to him then."

* * *

Morning light was shining through the windows of the laboratory. Jedikiah was on his own. He was halfway through checking the results when his laptop bleeped. He pressed a button and an image of John appeared on the screen. "John. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to talk for, though. Shutting myself away in my room looks suspicious. They've made contact with another Tomorrow Person."

Jedikiah considered the issue. "Let them handle things their way for now. But send me full details." He looked closely at John. Experience had taught him to read the young man. "Is something troubling you, John?"

"I slept with Astrid last night."

"I take it 'Congratulations' would be inappropriate."

"I…" John hesitated and Jedikiah's concern grew. There were signs that his protégé was forming feelings for the girl again, feelings which could be dangerous. John spoke again. "I don't like using her. She's not one of the group, she's an innocent. One of those we should be protecting."

"I understand what you mean. I wish that none of my kind had to be hurt. But sometimes it is unavoidable, for the sake of the greater good." Jedikiah picked up a test tube full of amniotic fluid. "We must all make sacrifices, John."


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you for the review!**

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN**

A conference of war was going on at the Refuge. Stephen and Cara stood at the head of the table, with Andrew sat nearby. Making up the numbers were John, Russell, Astrid, Irene, Mike and Sophie. "So, you've met Andrew here,"Stephen began. "He's got a problem and we're going to fix it. We're going to make sure the police catch Dunning."

"So what's the plan?"Russell asked. "Get him to rob a bank and have the police waiting for him?"

Cara shook her head. "We've already foiled a bank robbery this month. Let's go for something new."

John looked across the table at Andrew. "What else is Dunning into?"

"Drugs?"Irene suggested. "We could make sure the police catch him with a bunch of drug making stuff."

Andrew shook his head. "He's not into drugs."

"Oh." Irene looked slightly crestfallen. "Could we teach him?"

"I've seen plenty of this type at school,"Astrid noted. "They're really into adrenaline rush. Dangerous stunts."

"Dunning and his friends are always hanging out with their cars,"Andrew agreed. "Well…not _their_ cars usually. They kind of…borrow them for the night. Race each other."

Stephen considered this. "There may be something there we can use."

"What?"Mike asked. "You're going to sit around waiting for them to race each other and then call the cops?"

"I think we can be smarter than that. Russell, I'm going to need you to buy a car. Something fast and flashy, that'll appeal to this lot."

Russell grinned. "Brother, I think this might be the best idea you've ever had."

"Irene, can you come up with some sort of fuel or booster, that'd give us an edge in a race?"

Irene nodded. "Give me a problem and I'll give you a solution."

"Cara, I need you and Sophie to spring a trap, make sure they don't get away."

Cara glanced over at Sophie. "What do you think, sis? You up to it?"

Sophie smiled and shrugged. "Well, it'll get me out of this place for a bit."

"What do I do?"John asked.

Stephen glanced at their new recruit. "Train Andrew. He's already started learning one of the Ts, so teach him telepathy and teleportation. Because he's going to need to let us know where we have to go."

* * *

Jedikiah was still sitting in place in the laboratory when Morgan entered. "Jed? I've been looking for you. What's going on?"

Jedikiah held up a sheet of paper. "The test results, Morgan. Our child is a Tomorrow Person." He said it with the same tone of voice with which a doctor might announce a terminal illness.

Morgan came over and took his hands. "It's okay, Jed. I know you'll love this child. Like you do me."

Jedikiah stroked her face and gave a sad smile. "I do, Morgan. I do love our child. But I've seen the evil your kind can do. I can't be responsible for bringing more into the world. I suppose I could try the conditioning on you. But I love you too much to turn you into a slave."

Suddenly, his hands clamped around her throat. Morgan struggled, clawing at his hands, as she attempted to pull air through her blocked throat. "Don't fight it,"he said gently. "I've made it so you can't teleport out of here. It'll be easier for you if you just accept it."

Finally, she went limp. Jedikiah lowered her body to the floor, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

* * *

Andrew stood on the outer fringes of the crowd, looking worriedly about him. He'd heard their voices in his head, those of his new friends, promising they'd be on the way, but he still wasn't sure if he trusted them. Around him, youths were swigging beer and laughing. Then, he saw Dunning coming towards him and his heart sank.

"That was a neat trick you pulled before,"Dunning remarked. "Who were those two?"

Andrew shrugged. "Dunno. They just dumped me a few blocks away. Maybe they're mutants or something."

"Like you?" Dunning grinned wickedly. "Having our own pet mutant could be fun."

Then a red sports car came speeding up. Andrew inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as he recognised Stephen in the driver's seat, Russell next to him. Stephen leaned out the window. "Nice wheels. How fast do they go?"

"Fast enough,"Dunning retorted.

Russell leaned across. "You feel like proving that, my man, or are you just a lot of talk?"

Dunning bristled. "Rack 'em up,"he snapped.

Two cars lined up alongside Stephen and Russell's, Dunning driving one of them. Someone counted down from three and then they were off. Everyone else present ran after them, cheering. Only Andrew hang back.

Russell looked around nervously as Stephen put his foot hard down on the accelerator, keeping pace with the other two cars. "So, when are you going to use Irene's tricks?"

"In a minute,"Stephen answered. "There's something else needs to happen first."

On a ridge nearby were three police cars. The sergeant watched the three speeding vehicles drive past. "Looks like that tip-off was right. Let's go." The three cars sped down the dirt track after the vehicles, sirens blaring.

Stephen looked at Russell. "Now." He pressed the button and the special fuel kicked in, giving them a burst that took them way ahead of the other two cars.

Cara and Sophie watched the approaching vehicles from the bushes. "You ready for this?"Cara asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be,"Sophie confirmed.

"You take the tyres. I'll handle the cars."

The two sisters raised their hands. Sophie let out a telekinetic blast that burst all four front wheels on the two rear cars. At the same time, Cara took control of the vehicles, sending them into a controlled skid before bringing them to a stop. She smiled at Sophie before they both teleported.

The police officers surrounded the cars and dragged out their occupants. "We clocked you going at over a hundred,"the sergeant snapped. "Plus failing to stop when instructed by police." Dunning threw a punch at him, which he caught on his shoulder before grabbing him in an armlock. "And assaulting a police officer."

One of his officers glanced at the license plates. "These cars are on the list as stolen."

The sergeant grinned. "Breathalyse them. We might as well get the full lot."

Stephen and Russell glanced in the rear view mirror. One police car was still pursuing them. Stephen stopped the car and glanced at Russell. "Time to go." They teleported.

Two officers ran up to the empty car and tried to work out where its occupants had gone.

* * *

Andrew was alone at the site of the abandoned party. John emerged from the bushes. Andrew smiled with relief. "How'd it go?"

"We got your message about where the party was loud and clear. Guess you've mastered the telepathy thing." John reached into his back pocket and, unseen, drew out a hyperdermic. It would be so easy to take this one to Jedikiah. No-one would miss him.

Astrid appeared and John carefully put the hyperdermic away. "Stephen says Dunning and his friends are being loaded into a police van as we speak. Should we get back to the others?"

John nodded. He took her arm and turned to Andrew. "You want to try teleporting too?"

Andrew smiled and they all vanished.

* * *

Russell raised a glass. "To the new Tomorrow Person!"he toasted, patting Andrew on the shoulder; they, and the rest of the TPs had gathered in a room in the Refuge for an impromptu party. Russell turned to Stephen. "Seriously though, why couldn't we keep the car?"

"What do you need a car for?"Irene asked. "You can teleport anywhere."

"For the ladies! Rocking up in one of those things gets the right sort of attention. Appearing in a shower of lights, not so much."

Cara saw the debate was going to go on a while. She took Stephen's hand and led him out of the room. "Shouldn't we stay for the celebration?"he asked.

"Russell's got it in hand,"she answered. "There's something I want to show you." They teleported.

* * *

Stephen looked around the flat they'd found themselves in, slightly bemused. "Whose is this?"

Cara took a deep breath. "It's mine. I've been thinking about what you said, about us needing to be a part of the world, not detached from it in the Refuge. Guess I thought I should lead by example."

Stephen took another look around, pleased. Then a thought occurred to him. "How did you afford it?"

"Enough money left in the Ultra account for the bond. As for rent…" Cara sighed and looked pained. "I'm going to have to get a job, aren't I?"

Stephen grinned. "Wow, look at you all grown up."

"From rebel leader to flipping burgers. I'm not qualified for anything else. Unless you can think of transferable skills. What can a teleporting telepath do?"

"You could hire yourself out for industrial espionage?"

"Might just do that." Cara walked closer to him and gave him a long lingering kiss. "You know another good thing about this place? Privacy."

Stephen smiled. "How about you show me the bedroom?"

They kissed again as they headed in that direction.

* * *

John thought he'd managed to slip away successfully but then he heard the running footsteps and Astrid's call of "John!" He stopped and let her catch him up. "Aren't you going to stay at the party?"

"Just got something I need to do." He gave her a warm smile. "I'll be with you soon, okay? Go back to the others."

She smiled and gave him a long kiss before heading back the way she'd come. As soon as she was gone, John's manner became serious again. He went to his room and opened up the laptop.

Jedikiah's face stared out at him. There was something different about him. Something harder. "John."

"That new Tomorrow Person's here now. I thought of bringing him to you instead…"

"Flea bitings. Why have one when you can have them all?"

John cocked his head, intrigued. "Now?"

Jedikiah nodded. "Cause as much chaos as you can, then bring their leaders to me. With the information you've provided and my knowledge of the building, we can carry out a full-scale assault while they're in disarray. It's time for the Tomorrow People to be either controlled or destroyed."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for the reviews! Hopefully this chapter will meet with approval.**

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Russell, Mike and Lucy entered the lab where Irene was looking at a monitor. "You called, great leader?" Russell asked.

Irene glanced back at him. "Have you got an internet girlfriend or something?"

Russell blinked. "Hey, I know we had a bit of a moment but no need to get all jealous…"

"Trust me, you're safe."

"Oh, okay." Russell glanced at Mike and Lucy. "Forget I said that."

"It's just that I've been picking up some strange connections on the wifi. I think someone's been using a webcam or something."

"Have we got a spy?"Mike asked.

"That new kid, Andrew?"Lucy suggested.

"We're getting ahead of ourselves,"Irene told them. "It could be someone calling home or posting a music video. But I think we should ask around." She looked round as someone else entered. "Hi, John."

John took in the group. "Where are Stephen and Cara?"

Russell grinned. "Who knows? I think they must have gone off for a bit of alone time, know what I mean?"

"Do you know of anyone who's used a webcam?"Irene asked.

"Yes,"John replied simply. Then he fired off a TK burst that sent Irene flying into the screen, knocking her out. A second burst knocked Mike and Lucy into a wall.

Not really understanding what was going on but aware that something was, Russell gave a yell and dived at John, knocking him to the ground. The two old friends rolled around for a few moments, struggling with each other, before John got the upper hand. He trapped Russell underneath him and delivered a series of punches to the other telepath's solar plexus that left him winded. "You're just lucky you're not important,"he hissed. He got up and left the lab.

John strode down the corridor, blasting every Tomorrow Person he saw out of the way with telekinetic bursts. Charlotte emerged from a room and stood looking at him, wide-eyed. John prepared to fire a blast at her, then stopped. "Just walk away,"he told her. Charlotte shrank back from him. As soon as he looked away, she ran.

* * *

Luca collapsed onto the sofa in the rec area and glanced across at Sophie, the only other person present. "Cool party you Tomorrow People throw."

"Do you have to be somewhere?"

Luca glanced at his watch. "This time? Mum's gonna go crazy whatever time I rock up. Might as well crash here."

"Where were you thinking of sleeping?"

Luca gave a slight grin. "Well, big brother and sister seem to have disappeared for the night so…"

"So…I guess we can do whatever we want?"Sophie suggested.

Luca looked at her closely. She seemed to be leaning forward invitingly. Did that mean what he thought it meant? He leaned closer to her and slowly their lips met, feeling warm and soft. The kiss deepened as they slowly began to caress each other.

Then the door opened with a loud bang as John entered. The pair sprang apart. "We weren't doing anything!"Luca yelped.

John sent Sophie flying with a telekinetic burst, then drew a gun and pointed it at Luca. "Stephen and Cara! Where are they?"

Luca stared at him in horror, his body tingling with fear. Tingling really hard, in fact. So hard that it seemed to be glowing…

He teleported.

With an angry roar, John turned towards Sophie, who was sprawled in a corner. "You tell me."

Luca's first teleport obviously hadn't taken him very far. He ran back into the room and dived past John, grabbing hold of Sophie and teleporting them both clear.

John stormed into the office and faced Tim's screen. "You can tell me where they are."

"I believe I can come up with a location,"Tim agreed. "But I'm not sure I should tell you."

John pointed his gun at the door. "Tell me…or the next Tomorrow Person who walks in here gets a bullet between the eyes."

* * *

Stephen and Cara were sat on the bed, putting their clothes back on. "Well, it's definitely comfortable," Stephen remarked.

Cara shot a smile at him. "Always makes you wish we could stay here all night."

Stephen looked severely tempted for a moment then sighed. "I suppose we'd better check back in."

Cara nodded. "Do you ever get tired of being responsible?"

"I'm responsible now? When did that happen?" Stephen pulled Cara to her feet and kissed her, their arms wrapped around each other.

They were interrupted by John teleporting in. Cara looked at him, confused. "John, what are you..?"

John pointed his gun at them. "You both need to come with me."

"Come where?"Stephen asked, confused.

Cara looked at her old friend in shock. "John, what have they done to you?"

Not understanding the situation but understanding that they were being threatened, Stephen blasted the gun from John's hand. John responded by sending him flying with a TK burst.

Cara unleashed her powers at John at the same moment he unleashed his at her. The forces met in the middle. Both struggled to force the other back but Cara was hampered by the fact that she didn't want to hurt a friend. John had no such compunctions. His blast broke through and slammed Cara backwards into the wall.

Stephen leapt at him.

* * *

Astrid had known something was wrong when she saw the wrecked corridors and shell-shocked Tomorrow People. Not stopping to talk to anyone, she ran to the office, only to find it deserted…at least of humans. "Tim, what's going on?"

"Something has happened to John,"Tim explained. "He attacked the Tomorrow People. He has gone after Stephen and Cara."

"What's he going to do to them?"

"I'm afraid I don't know. But he had a gun. It appears the John that came back is not the John we are familiar with. Something has happened to him."

"Where are Russell and the others?"

"I have been unable to contact them. It seems likely they have been put out of action."

Astrid reached into her pocket and took out the pyramid-shaped communicator. "Get ready, Tim. I'll call you in a minute." She hurried out.

* * *

John threw Stephen through the bedroom door into the flat's main living area. Stephen dived aside as John sent a TK burst at him. John looked around for his gun but Stephen pulled him away, hurling him across the living area into a wall. He was on him in a second, holding him against the wall. "Stop this, John!"

John's response was a headbutt that left Stephen momentarily dazed. John aimed another blow that Stephen just managed to block. Stephen knocked John away from him and he crashed into a bar. Stephen grabbed him and turned him round but John kicked out, knocking him away. John grabbed Stephen around the throat, his face a mask of anger and hate the kind of which Stephen had never seen in him before.

Then Astrid teleported in, matter transporter belt around her waist, stun gun in her hand. Taking in the situation, she aimed at John and fired. He slumped to the ground.

Stephen took a deep breath. "Thanks." Then he realised Astrid's attention was focused on John, her face stricken. He spoke to her gently. "We'll do what we can to help him."


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you, as ever, for follows, favourites and reviews!**

* * *

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Stephen and Russell stared through a glass partition at John, who had been strapped into a medical chair. Cara was in the room with him, trying to get through to him telepathically. "So what do you think happened to him?"Russell asked. Stephen gave him a look. Russell took a few moments to interpret it, then his eyes widened in realisation. "No! Jeddy?"

"He was the last person with John before he disappeared. We know he gave John his powers back. Guess he did something else to him along the way."

"And I really thought we'd stopped looking over our shoulders to see if he was sneaking up with a mallet. So what's his angle?"

Stephen shrugged. "I think only John can tell her that."

At that moment, they saw Cara knocked backwards. Stephen made to enter the room but Russell stopped him. "Wait, look. He just pushed her out of his mind. She's coming out."

Cara emerged from the room, shaking her head. "I tried to get through to him, to remind him of who he was. But he wouldn't listen."

"You want me to try?"Russell asked.

"No, I think there's only one person he'll listen to. Keep an eye on him." She headed off down the corridor.

Moments later, Sophie appeared from the other direction. Stephen gave her a sympathetic look. "How are you feeling?"

Sophie shrugged. "Being chucked around by a crazed sleeper agent is just how I like to spend my Friday nights." Her demeanour became serious. "Stephen, I think you need to talk to Luca."

* * *

Luca was sitting on his own in the rec room when Stephen entered and cautiously approached him. "So…I hear you've broken out then?"

Luca glowered at him. "Who told you that?"

"Sophie." Stephen saw Luca avert his gaze. "I think she cares about you, you know."

Luca looked up hopefully. "Really?"

Stephen smiled at him. "Really."

Luca sighed. "I just don't get how it happened. I haven't felt ill or anything…"

"Well, John was threatening you. Maybe the adrenaline rush triggered it or something…Look, if you want the scientific explanation, ask Irene."

Luca nodded. "What's happening with John?"

"I don't know, they're still looking into it. What about you, how are you feeling? Not just about John, about everything."

"Bit weird. But I guess I've got used to you lot being around. Shouldn't be too hard adjusting."

"Good, you can tell Mum then."

Luca winced. "She is going to have a fit, isn't she?"

"She was probably expecting it." Stephen patted his brother on the shoulder. "Welcome to the club."

* * *

John struggled against his bonds. There were restrictions in place to stop him using teleportation or telekinesis and there was no-one he wanted to use telepathy on. So he was just there. He looked up at movement and saw someone enter. Charlotte.

"They say that…you did what you did because…because you're with Jedikiah again."

John looked at her. "He's our only hope, Charlotte. He'll help us do what we should be doing, serve humanity. We have to stop the Tomorrow People, they'll destroy everything for all of us. Let me out."

"No!" Charlotte looked at him aghast. "Don't you remember the Citadel, everything he did? He hurt me, hurt all of us. He killed Errol, my friend. He let Julian…do things to me. You have to remember."

"Help me,"John told her through gritted teeth,"or get out." His voice rose to a roar. "Get out!"

Russell hurried into the room and took hold of Charlotte. "Come on, let's go." He led her out.

"I hate Jedikiah,"Charlotte spat. "All he does is hurt people."

"I think all of us hate him about now,"Russell agreed. "Don't worry about John. We'll help him."

* * *

Cara found Astrid in the kitchen. She paused, aware that she had a difficult subject to broach. Astrid looked up at her. "How's John?"

"Confused. I'm trying to get through to him but I can't." Cara took a deep breath. "Astrid, I need your help."

Astrid looked surprised. "Me? But how, why?"

"I've been trying to jog his memories of his time with us but it's not enough. I need something else. I need you. I need to give him back his memories of you."

"Why would that help?"

Cara sighed. "Because he loved you in a way he never loved me. Because last time he was lost, you were the one that brought him back."

"I'm not a telepath, I can't…"

"I can make the link. I can take your memories and pass them on to him."

Astrid thought about this. "Would you be able to see the memories too?"

Cara nodded. "If there was any other way…" She could see Astrid wasn't sure. "You love him, right?" Astrid hesitated and then nodded. "Me too. I'm not in love with him. I'm not sure if I ever was. It's become more than that. He's family. He's saved my life more times than I can count. And right now, he needs both of us."

Astrid looked at her, her expression suddenly determined. "What do you want me to do?"

* * *

John found himself on a rooftop, Astrid in front of him. Just inside his vision, a wave of light was moving towards him. "You were the best thing about being human,"he told her and kissed her.

Then he was somewhere else, lying on his back, blood pouring from his stomach, Astrid holding his hand and singing to him. He flashed from place to place: Lying in the dirt as a car sped past; on a subway, his confidence restored; jumping off a speeding train, hand in hand; the simple pleasure of her flesh against his, even when he didn't remember her…

And then he was in a cell in Ultra, strapped down. Back in the present. Cara let go of his hand and turned to Astrid, who was still holding her other hand. Silently, Cara stepped aside, ushering Astrid to John's side.

Astrid looked at him hopefully. "Welcome back?"she asked.

John nodded, his eyes full of regret.

* * *

John was walking between Cara and Astrid as they entered the conference room. Stephen, Russell, Irene, Mike and Lucy stood up to greet them. Stephen gave his one-time mentor a nod of greeting. "Good to have you back."

Mike seemed less keen. "Are we sure he's all right?"

"I scanned him,"Cara confirmed. "He's clean."

"I'm sorry for what I did to you,"John said quietly. "To all of you."

Russell shrugged. "Hey, no sweat. I'm sure I've done plenty to deserve it over the years."

Stephen gestured for them all to sit down. "John, what's going on? What happened?"

"It was Jedikiah,"John answered.

"We let him off way too easy,"Russell sighed.

"Some of us didn't get let off so easily by him,"Irene agreed.

Stephen motioned for them to be quiet. "What's he doing?"

"He's building an army,"John explained. "He's going to try and bring all telepaths under his control. I was meant to deliver you and Cara to him. Then his men were going to come in here, kill or capture everyone they saw."

"Is this attack still going to take place?"Lucy asked. John shrugged.

"Maybe we should get ready just in case,"Astrid suggested.

"Or strike first,"Stephen replied.

Cara shook her head. "Stephen, we don't have enough people here to take on an army."

"Then I'll go,"John said. "Alone."


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you for the review and the favourite! I meant to warn people I was going to be away this weekend so might not get a chapter done, but as it turns out this was finished on time. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Jedikiah sat at his desk, waiting patiently: He had been told someone was on the way to see him. He only had to wait a few moments more before John entered the room and stood to attention. Jedikiah raised an eyebrow. "You're looking well, John. I trust you had no difficulty carrying out your mission? Stephen and Cara are currently in our custody?"

John shifted uncomfortably. "Not exactly."

"Then what?"

"I achieved the other part of my task, disrupting the Tomorrow People's Refuge, but my attack on their leaders failed. I was captured. I only escaped because I managed to convince them they'd turned me. They think I came here to attack you. If you attack now, they won't be expecting it."

Jedikiah stood up. "That's a very interesting suggestion, John. How would you suggest we carry it out?"

"Like this." Quick as a flash, John's gun was in his hand. He aimed it at Jedikiah, his finger tightening on the trigger…and then his world exploded in searing pain. He hadn't felt it for more than ten years but he recognised it straightaway. The Prime Barrier. The gun fell from his hand as he collapsed, clutching his head.

Jedikiah looked down at him, his eyes filled with cold fury. "I don't make the same mistake twice, John. I let you betray me once before. A Tomorrow Person with the ability to kill, working against us. Not this time. When I altered your genetic code, I made sure to put certain safeguards in place. If you ever accessed the parts of your brain that I had hidden, if you remembered your rebellion and repeated it, then your ability to kill would be turned off. And now it has." He stooped to pick up John's gun, then threw it down on the desk in anger. "Why, John? You were like a son to me! It should have been the two of us together, safeguarding the human race! And you turned against me, again!"

John had his breathing under control now. He lay on his back, looking up at the man he had spent his adult life respecting or hating…sometimes both at the same time. "I've seen how you treat your son. You're not half the man your brother was. And that's not because he had powers and you didn't. He turned Stephen into a leader, a hero. You tried to turn me into a killer. Well, guess what? You failed. I'm not a killer. I'm a Tomorrow Person. You helped us stop the Founder and I was grateful to you for that. I convinced myself that being your son wasn't so bad. But you and him…you're just two sides of the same coin. And that coin's worth nothing."

Jedikiah grabbed the gun, pointing it at John…and John teleported away. It took him a moment to contain his fury, then he raised his voice. "Drill sergeant!"

The drill sergeant entered. "Doctor Price?"

"It's time to declare war on the Tomorrow People."

* * *

John sat outside the Refuge's conference room, Astrid next to him, holding his hand. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"You know the crazy thing? I feel relieved. All these years, I've felt like a fraud. I hid it from them for so long, the fact I wasn't like them, the fact Jedikiah had…changed me. It's like I'm finally one of them again."

Astrid smiled and helped him to his feet. "Let's go inside."

Stephen, Cara, Russell, Irene and Mike were already standing around the table when the pair entered. They took their seats, as did John and Astrid. "So you failed?"Mike asked acerbically.

John nodded. "Turns out I can't kill."

"Join the club."

"How are you?"Cara asked.

John gave her a grateful smile. "Good."

"So where do we go from here?"Russell asked.

John shrugged. "Jedikiah knows we're onto him. He'll probably attack us."

Stephen tapped a communicator pyramid. "Tim, I want all anti-telepath devices turned on straight away. Send out a message to everyone letting them know their powers won't work." He looked around the table. "This building was designed to stop people teleporting in. Time to make use of that."

"The instruction is carried out, Stephen,"came Tim's response.

"So now what?"asked Russell. "Jedikiah's people don't have powers, we don't have powers."

"You want them to be able to just drop in?"Cara retorted.

"This way, if they attack us, we'll have the home advantage and we'll know which way they're coming," Stephen replied.

"No powers sounds like a disadvantage,"Russell responded. "They can't get in but, no offence or anything, I'm not planning to lose, but we can't get out. What if we have to evacuate?"

"We can use the belts!"Irene realised.

Everyone looked at her. "Come again?"Mike asked.

"The belts, you remember? I've been working on a way to use them as power boosters. We all put them on, Tim can run continuous power through them, enough that our own powers are boosted enough to overpower the defences."

"We'll have powers and they won't!"Russell concluded. "Our very own jaunting belts!" He noticed the looks he was getting. "It's okay, I'm not sold on the name."

"So how long have we got?"Astrid asked.

"Until tomorrow morning, I expect,"John replied.

"Why so long?"Cara wondered.

"He'll want to make us sweat."

* * *

"We could go in immediately,"the drill sergeant suggested. "Catch them on the hop."

"They're expecting us,"Jedikiah reminded him. "John will have warned them by now."

"Then surely it's best to strike before they have time to prepare a defence."

"I think the better option would be to let morale drop. Their gambit failed, their assassin lost. I want them to dwell on that failure. You watch, during the night their numbers will drop away, more and more Tomorrow People cutting and running, until only the die hards remain. They're the ones that we have to get rid of. The rest of them…they'll see the light soon or later."

The drill sergeant bowed his head. "Of course."

"Get ready to move out at first light. There's a lot of people I'm looking forward to seeing again."


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you for the reviews! Believe it or not, the "jaunting belt" injoke in the last chapter was a last minute addition. It was only when I was about to sit down and write the chapter that it occurred to me the belts were the perfect way for the Tomorrow People to be able to still use their powers, at which point the line became irresistible.**

* * *

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

John and Astrid were lying in bed together. John grinned. "So…impressed?"

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "I'd be more impressed if you'd actually paid for this hotel room."

John shrugged. "What can I say? I'm an impoverished fugitive."

"But you still do your best to show a girl a good time."

John took her hand and looked at her seriously. "I just wanted to spend a night with you as myself, not as some puppet of Jedikiah's."

Astrid swallowed hard. "We should be headed back to the Refuge soon."

"You don't have to come."

"I think we both know I do. How long have we got?"

John glanced at the room's clock and at the communicator sitting on his bedside table. Then he looked back at her and grinned. "Long enough,"he decided. He kissed her and they sank back into the bed.

* * *

A long line of Tomorrow People were passing through the Refuge's armoury, where Mike was handing out weapons. "Keep moving!"he called. "Got a lot of people to get through."

Luca and Sophie were standing next to each other in the line. "You nervous?"Luca asked.

"Terrified,"Sophie confirmed.

Luca enveloped her hand in his. "I'll watch out for you, okay?"

"Oh, please tell me you two aren't flirting,"Andrew complained from just behind them.

Luca glanced back at the boy; they were about the same age. "You been told which group you're in?"

"B Group."

"Same as us,"Sophie noted.

"You want to go with us?"Luca asked. He noticed Andrew's surprised look and shrugged. "Us newbies have got to stick together."

"Yeah, sure,"Andrew agreed, seeming pleased to be included.

Mike thrust stun guns and belts at them. "Cut the talk and move along."

* * *

John and Astrid were just finishing getting dressed, strapping their booster belts into place. John gave Astrid a quick kiss. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

John spoke into the communicator. "Teleport us back to the Refuge, Tim."

"Right away, John,"came the response.

John turned back to Astrid. "You go ahead and join the others when we get there. There's someone I need to see."

* * *

Charlotte was sat on her bed, twirling a stun gun about in her hand, when John entered. "You going to use that thing on me?"he asked.

Charlotte looked at him, slightly wary. "Do I need to?"

John sat down on the bed next to her and placed a hand over hers. "I'm sorry I scared you."

Charlotte gave him an awkward smile. "It's okay. I know it wasn't really you. Jedikiah."

John nodded wearily. "Yeah. Jedikiah."

"I hate him. All he does is hurt people. Everyone at the Citadel, you. And now he's coming here to hurt us?"

"We think so." He looked at her, so young and vulnerable. "You don't have to be a part of this, you know. If you stay in your room, you should be safe."

Charlotte shook her head. "I want to come."

John helped her to her feet and put his arm round her shoulder. "Let's go then."

* * *

Stephen was in the office, staring out the window. Cara approached him. "You okay?"

Stephen sighed. "You get that this could go wrong?"

"It had occurred to me."

"If I get us all killed…well, I doubt anyone will ever forgive me."

Cara gave a slight smile. "You're a very forgivable person."

Stephen raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to give me a peptalk?"

"Do you need me to?"

"Maybe. It just seems like…whenever I need one, you're there."

Cara took his hand. "You know I'm not very good at this sort of thing, so don't laugh. But…whatever happens now, I'm glad I met you. I'm glad I fell in love with you."

Stephen smiled, then kissed her softly.

The kiss broke and Cara sighed. "See, _that's_ what I should have done."

Stephen glanced out of the window. "They're here." The pair suddenly became businesslike. "You go and get the others ready. I've just got to make a phone call."

Cara looked at him sceptically. "Isn't that kind of cheating?"

"Just being a responsible citizen."

* * *

Jedikiah got out of the land rover and watched as his troops disembarked. He gestured to two of the soldiers. "You two?" He gestured to a point on a map of the building, where John had told him the rec area was. "See if you can teleport in there." The two men sparkled with teleportation energy but failed to dematerialise fully, eventually solidifying again. "No? Okay, we'll do it the old-fashioned way. Move in."

The group entered the entrance hall. Suddenly, a voice called out to them. "Hey, Uncle Jed. Nice of you to drop round. Would have been nice if you'd knocked on the door though."

The troops stopped and looked up. There was no ceiling immediately above them, meaning all the other levels looked down on the entrance. Stephen was standing on the next level up, with John and Cara on either side of him. "Stephen!"Jedikiah called out. "Why don't you come down here and we can discuss this sensibly?"

"With the men with guns standing next to you? No, thanks."

"I have…a proposition. You can come with me, work for the government. You want to help people, right? I'm giving you that chance."

"So long as I get lobotised first?"

Jedikiah's composure started to slip. "We need to be sure. We can't have your people wandering around doing whatever they like. They're dangerous."

"Then no deal."

"And what are you going to do to stop it, Stephen? Your people must have deserted in droves once your assassination failed. Who have you got left, just John and Cara there?"

"No…actually there's a lot more." Stephen called out defiantly,"A team, stand ready!" At the call, several Tomorrow People stepped into view, stretching out either side of him so they covered the whole of the area around the edge. Astrid, Charlotte, Mike and Lucy were among them.

"B team!"called out Irene and another group of Tomorrow People stepped into view on the ledge to the troopers' left.

"C team!"called out Russell and another group appeared to their right. All had stun guns raised and ready to use.

Jedikiah looked at them with cold fury. "Kill them."

The troops fired their weapons upwards but the Tomorrow People had the high ground and the cover. They opened up with their stun guns and the troops began to fall. "I think it's working,"Cara told Stephen.

"Don't jinx it,"he warned her.

One of the troopers opened up at the B group. Sophie flung up a forcefield that blocked the shot. Luca telekinetically knocked the weapon from the man's hand and a moment later Andrew stunned him. "Teamwork,"he commented.

"Don't let up!"Irene shouted. "Pick your targets carefully."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"Russell asked her telepathically.

Irene locked eyes with him on the opposite side before sending a telepathic reply. "It is quite satisfying."

In the front row of Group C, Piper glanced at Troy. "Bring back memories?"

"Don't start,"he replied gruffly.

Somehow Jedikiah was still on his feet, even though almost all his troops were down. As the last one fell, he turned and ran back out the entrance. And it was only then that he heard the sirens, as three police cars came speeding to a halt in front of the building and officers jumped out. He stared at them incredulously. The Tomorrow People had called the police? Then he composed himself. He could talk his way out of it. He had official contacts, after all.

Suddenly his arm, the one that ended in the hand holding his gun, lifted up involuntarily, until the weapon was pointing at the officers. Try as he might, he couldn't move it…and then he realised what was about to happen. "No, wait!"he shouted.

The officers, seeing a man pointing a gun at them, opened fire. Several rounds hit him in the chest. His arm was the last thing to hit the ground.

The Tomorrow People had made it to the entrance hall in time to witness Jedikiah's last stand. "I'm not imagining this, am I?"Russell asked. "He didn't raise that arm himself."

"Someone moved his arm telekinetically,"John confirmed.

"Assisted suicide by cop."

"But who?"Astrid asked.

The group looked at each other…and slowly all eyes fell on Charlotte. "He was mean,"she said simply, and walked away.

Cara looked amused. "You always have to watch the quiet ones."


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

Senator Kelsey was staring out from the computer screen, his expression a mixture of affront and concern, at Stephen, Cara, John and Astrid. "Who are you people?"he demanded.

"We're the Tomorrow People,"Stephen answered. "And we're Ultra."

"And we got your contact details from Doctor Jedikiah Price,"John added.

Kelsey licked his lips nervously. "I don't know anyone of that name."

"Really?" Cara held up a folder and flipped through it absent-mindedly. "Because that's not what the files we retrieved from him say. According to these, you were heavily involved with him. Abduction, unethical experiments, trying to form an army of super-soldiers…I don't think any of this will look very good come the next election."

Kelsey dropped the pretence and looked at them stony-faced. "What do you want?"

"We want to be left alone,"Stephen replied. "This emerging species, Homo Nova, they're our responsibility now. If there are any breakouts that need help and guidance, training in how to control their powers and fit in with society, then we'll help them. And if any of them start misusing their powers… we'll deal with them too."

"Any sign of a secret organisation coming after us,"Cara continued,"and all the evidence against you becomes public."

"If that becomes public, so do you,"Kelsey pointed out. "How do you think the country will react to knowing there's a new species walking among them?"

"There'll be riots and lynch mobs,"Stephen agreed. "People that think the same as Jedikiah and want to use us or kill us. And there'll be able who sympathise and want to help integrate us, and people who just think we're cool and want to hang out with us. And all of them will be wondering why you kept it secret. So not only is it in your best interests to leave us alone, it's in your best interests to make sure that no-one finds out about us."

Kelsey glared at them. "I hope I never see you again." He cut the link.

"Do you think he really will drop this?"Astrid asked.

Cara shrugged. "You know, I think he might."

"Still leaves us with a lot to sort out though,"John noted. "So we'd better get on with the clear-up."

* * *

Randall slowly opened his eyes. He was lying back in a dentist's chair type seat. Then he saw John looming over him and shrank back.

John placed a comforting hand on his arm. "It's okay, Randall. You're safe."

Randall looked at him suspiciously. "You…you took me to that place. Where they…did things to me."

"They did things to me too. But we're both okay now. My friends helped us. Managed to pull our proper memories back out."

Randall looked confused. "How?"

Which was when he heard a nervous female voice. "Randall?"

Randall looked round and focused on the woman standing there. "Mum?"

As mother and son embraced, John took a step back and joined Cara on the other side of the room. "Another happy family reunion,"she commented.

John nodded. "You think we can help them all? All the people Jedikiah brainwashed?"

"I think we can try."

* * *

Russell ran his hands over one of the belts and looked up at Irene. The two of them were in the lab. "So, looks like your inventions saved the day."

Irene shuffled, embarrassed. "It was nothing, really. Just something I came up with to pass the time."

"You're kidding? We got rid of Jedikiah and set ourselves up as the one and only future of humanity." He leaned closer and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "And I hear all the prefects are gonna be out this evening so how about we throw a party that will really rock this place?"

Irene sighed. "Is that all you think about?"

Russell shrugged. "Pretty much."

Irene grimaced. "You know, I'd rather stay here. I'm running some programmes to detect new breakouts..."

"Can Tim do it without you?"

Irene sighed. "Yes,"she admitted reluctantly.

Russell took her hand and led her out. "Girl, if it takes me a lifetime, I am going to teach you how to have a good time."

* * *

John and Astrid were sat in a restaurant, having just finished their meal. John reached out a hand across the table and, with a smile, Astrid took it. "So, what does a former super-soldier turned rebel leader do with himself?"she asked.

John smiled. "To tell the truth, I'm still working that out."

"I'd be happy to work it out along with you."

"You don't have to still be a part of this. I mean, Jedikiah might be gone and Ultra might be, well, us, but things are probably still going to be pretty hairy."

Astrid looked at him seriously. "John…after everything that's happened, there's nowhere else I could be."

John nodded. "You know I wanted you to say that, right?"

"Thought so. I don't suppose you've got anything to pay the tab with?"

"I just figured I'd teleport us out of here before it came."

"You are such a rubbish date. Stick around and I'll teach you how things work in the real world."

"I can hardly wait."

Astrid led the way to the till and handed over her card. John glanced at the name on it. "You ever think of using your middle name? Elizabeth?"

Astrid gave him a sceptical look. "Really?"

John shrugged. "Just a thought."

* * *

Cara rolled over in bed and realised the space next to her was empty. She glanced up and saw Stephen sitting on the edge of the bed, staring out the window of her apartment. She pulled herself out from under the covers and crawled over to him. "What are you doing?"

Stephen gestured out of the window. "Do you think there's lots of people out there like us?"

"Could be."

"Some good, some evil…"

"What, are you writing your own opening narration now?"

"I'm just saying it's a big responsibility."

"Stephen, it's late. Do we have to have this conversation now?"

Stephen looked at her and smiled. "I think it's going to be fun."

Cara couldn't help but smile back. She kissed and hugged him before they settled down to sleep.

* * *

**All opinions welcome!**


End file.
